This morning, the people of Japan woke up with the knowledge that life is fragile and even the earth, itself, is broken. I can only imagine what it is like to pick broken pieces of your life up off the ground again, and again, and again in the span of one day. At some point they may have wondered if they should just leave it all on the floor...
A hearty work ethic, technological advances, material possessions, efficient infrastructure.... None of these things can keep a 10 foot wave from carrying off a train full of passengers, never to be heard from again. They can't keep an entire village from disappearing off a map. They can't assure loved ones who are left behind to grieve that there is purpose and hope in the midst of their unspeakable pain.
This morning people all over the world started their mornings tweeting pithy comments about March Madness, they complained about how annoying Mondays are and always will be, made plans to have dinner with friends next weekend and thought about buying the latest technogadget. They made assumptions about life that our friends in Japan have ceased to make these days.
As I pray for the people in Japan, I find myself praying that the rest of us, including myself, would live our lives in light of the reality that they cannot forget.
"God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, thought the
earth should change,
and though the mountains slip into the
heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains quake at its
swelling pride." Psalm 46:1-2
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